Improvement in machines for cleaning and separating grain



F. WEGMANN. MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND SEPARATING GRAIN.

Patented Oct. 18, 1870.

FREDERIO WEGrMANN, OF NAPLES, ITALY,

Letters Patent NO. 108,541, dated October 18,1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR CLEANING AND SEPARATING GRAIN.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame I Fannnnrc WEeMAnN, of Naples, in the King'- dom of Italy, haveinvented an Improvement in the Washing and Cleaning of Grains, and inthe appara tus relating thereto, of which the following is aspecification.

Naturc and Object 0] me I ncention.

My invention relates -to certain improvements in what is known as thewetprocess of washing and cleaning grain; and

My invention consists in submitting the grain for an .instant only tothe action of water, instead of for a longer time, as usual, the grainthus treated being eflectually cleansed and deprived of small stones,particles ofearthy matter, &c., without being soaked and swelled by thewater.

Myinvention also consists of certain apparatus for carrying out theabove process, and also-of devices for conducting the grain to and fi'omthe said apparatus,

and for sitting and drying the grain, &c., all of which will be fullydescribed hereafter.

Description of the Accompanying Drawing.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section,of the complete cleaningapparatus;

Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, enlarged sectional plan views of parts of theapparatus, on the lines 1 2, 3 4, 5 6, and 7 8, fig. 1; and

Figure 6 is a transverse vertical section oi another portion of theapparatus.

General Description.

in all the cleaning apparatus heretofore known, the grain has beencleaned by either a dry or wetprocess.

When this operation is accomplished by the dry process, it has thedisadvantage, despite of all the accessories that may be employed, ofnot thoroughly separating the light or damaged grains, the flourobtained from grain thus treated being consequently unsound audot' poorquality.

The dry process fans also to separate small stones and particles ofearthy matter from the grain, so that in grinding the latter themillstones become constantly blunted, and imperfect in their operation.

The wet process consists mainly'in submitting. the grain to the actionof water, which dissolves the earthy portions, removes light and damagedgrains, and also separates the stones.

, Such apparatus, however, have been used to a very limited extent,owing to their imperfect construction, the foreign matters being butpartially separaterhand the grain so soaked and softened by the water asto render the grinding of it unprofitable, even after it has been driedby the usual methods, since the too great dampness causes a considerablequantity of flour to adhere to, and to consequently be removed with, thebran. The flour, also, although of exceeding whiteness, is unfit forexportation or preservation, especially if made from grain with verythin hulls.

Notwithstanding the above objections, the washingprocess has appeared tobe indispensable for certain grains of inferior quality, and I havetherefore attempted to disembarrass this process of its inconveniences,as will be seenfrom the-following descriptiona I have succeeded, bysubmitting the grain to the action of water for an inst-ant only, inremoving all the stones and foreign matter without injuring the grain,and by adding certain other accessories employed in most mills, haveformed a complete system of cleansing, by means of which, not onlyinferior grains, but those of the most delicate kinds, may he treated,and stones, earth, light and imperfect grains,

the, be thoroughly separated from the same.

0n reference tothe drawing- A represents a case, whi '11 serves toreceive the grain to be cleaned, and the exit of which is regulated bymeans of a register, a.

A chain of buckets, B, conveys horizontal revolving screen, 0.

The dust and sittings fall at 0, into a case or nopper, 1), and areremoved therefrom by the bagging apparatus E. The partc'of the screen 0is 01 sheet metal, pierced with holes sufiicientl y large for thepassthe grain into at age of the gram into thehopper F, whilst largerparts are thrown outside at e, and then removed.

From the hopper F the grain falls into a vertical cylinder, G, which hasan outer casing of perforated sheet metal, and whose principal obj ectisthe removal of the strawy envelope remaining around some grains. Thisresult is obtained by causing the apparatus to make two hundredrevolutions a minute. From the cylinder G the grain falls into thevspout or funnel g, and thence into the receptacle H, into which is alsoforced by the fan I a strong current of air, which removes the straw,dust, and all the lighter parts of the 7 grain, and expels them throughthe orifice H.

The light grains fall through the opening it, which may be regulated bymeans of a movable plate, and are receivedinto any suitable receptacle,J.

The good grain falls through the opening It into the case K, which is ofsuch capacity that in case of any derangement in the subsequentapparatus, it will receive the whole supply of grain from above, whilethe trap K at its lower end is being closed and the more ment of theseveral parts arrested.

From the case K the grainfalls into the hopper 11, and thence through acomparatively small opening into the compartment or of a case, M, whichis filled with water. The quantity of water flowing-through ,the pipe mfixed to the case-M,and'which penetrates into the compartmentm, is abouttwo hundred and twenty litres a minute.

The compartment m, and the plate m, are solely for the purpose ofpreventing a strong current from being produced at the surface of thewater. The

specific gravity is then the sole cause through which the light currentof water carries the grain into the mpartment m.

As to the earth and stones, even the smallest, they fall upon themovable plate a, and thence onto the bottom a, whence they areallowed topass into the water.

If, however, the ,grainto be cleansed is intended for finer flours, thevalve 0 is closed sufliciently to allow the water to rise into thecasemfl-so as to overflow by the opening 11, through which all the light anddefective grains pass,whilst all the good remain.

An inclined partition, as, situated at a short distance from'the wall 0,can at will be removed, or prolonged toward its lower extremity, andserves to guide the grain and water to the bottom of the compartment m.The cylinder Q is provided with a perlbrated outer casing, and serves torapidly remove ti'om the moistened grain the dampness which it contains,and to 'raise it to the height necessary to flow through the pipe qintoa cylinder, B. This cylinder is constructed in the same manner asthe cylinder Q, andhoth are caused to make about four hundredrevolutions per minute. This speed is sufiicient to remove from thegrain by centrifugal'force all the dampness which it contains, so thatwhen elevated by the chain of buckcts 1: into the reservoir V, jt can bepermitted to remain in the latter withoutundergoing any further drying.n 7

'1 is a fan, or ventilator, in front of which the grain may be caused topass before reaching the reservoir W This ventilator,however, isnotimlispensable, as

it only removes'the hulls detached from some grains in consequence ofthe swelling produced by the dam pness, and which are separated bytheetiect of friction in the cylinders.

The advantages of my invention may be enumerated as follows: f

First, all the grains, by being subjected for an instant to the-actionof water within the vessel M, may be cleaned, and, despite theirimmersion, they do not retain more dampness than when they aresprinkled,as is frequently done in order to obtain" a pure, lightcolored flour. v

Second, .by the immersion of the grain, all the heavier bodies, such asstones, nails, earthy particles, &c., must be entirely separated fromthe same, and fali'to the ottom of the compartment m, it beingimpossible for such heavy bodies to be carried with the grain into thecompartment 122.

Third, the waste, or sittings, which in other grainwashing machines areentirely lost,'may, if desired, be wholly or in part saved with thegrain, by a. proper adjustment of the valve 0 and plates and :c of thevessel M.

Fourth, vby varying the opening h of the receptacle H, more or lesslight grains may be obtained, so that the grain, when once dried, may beeasily improved by a-sccond time.

Fifth, in consequence of the absolute separation of all the stones andother foreign matter from the grain, there will be a considerable savingin the dressing of millstones, and they may be dressed finer than usual,and thus a whiter obtained.

Sixth, in consequence of the saving of stones, they mood, which willeffect considerable economy of time and material,

As a further advantage of myinvention, may be also mentioned the factthat buttwo men are required to attend the apparatus, one to pour thegrain into the hopper, and the other to super-intend the cleaning.

I wish itto be understood that I do not limit myand drying the same.

with a constant stream of water, and arranged. beneath a chamber for thepassage of grain,in combination with a drying apparatus communicatingwith the said coi'npartment m, and provided with a perforated screen,all substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The said case M provided vwith a plate 7:, arranged in thecompartment m, as set forth.

partition x, arranged as specified.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

W'ituesscs: FEEDER-to WEGMANN.

E. Rrsusno, BISSOX.

being run through the upper portion of the apparatus and a superiorproduct of flour be may be dressed for all kinds of grains with thediaself to the above-described arrangement of apparatus,

2. The case M, having conmartmeuts m m supplied 4. Thecase M, itscompartments in m, and inclined-

